SHIPPING TRAY FOR CHAIR SYSTEM AND METHOD
Embodiments of the present disclosure may include a shipping tray for a chair having a plurality of legs including a top side, bottom side, front support, rear support, first side support, second side support, a central brace, a plurality of holders, and a plurality of structural ribs. Embodiments may also include a shipping tray system, and a method of stacking a chair having a plurality of legs on the shipping tray.
This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 63/311,664, filed on Feb. 18, 2022. The entire disclosure of the above application is incorporated herein by reference.
FIELDThe present technology includes processes and articles of manufacture that relate to shipping trays, including a shipping tray for a chair system and method.
INTRODUCTIONShipping trays can be used to transport a variety of goods as they are moved from producer to seller and during storage. Such shipping trays can be used to support these same goods when they are moved by a device such as a forklift and a pallet jack.
A shipping tray holding goods is easy to move and is stable when carrying a large load. Shipping trays also allow goods to be unloaded quickly and easily from a transport truck. This can enable a producer and a supplier to save on transportation and handling costs. Additionally, shipping trays can provide a stable base to prevent goods from tipping over and being damaged during shipping and storage. To be properly utilized however, a shipping tray should be able to properly support and hold the goods during transport and storage. Particularly, a shipping tray should be properly reinforced and structurally stable so that it does not bend and cause a tip over or even a breakage of the shipping tray and damage to the goods.
Accordingly, there is a need for a shipping tray that is structurally reinforced and structurally stable so that it can hold heavy material during shipping and storage.
SUMMARYIn concordance with the instant disclosure, a shipping tray that is structurally reinforced and structurally stable so that it can hold heavy material during shipping and storage, is surprisingly discovered.
Embodiments of the present disclosure may include a shipping tray for a chair having a plurality of legs. The shipping tray may have a top side and a bottom side. Further the shipping tray may have a front support including a first front corner and a second front corner, and a rear support including a first rear corner and a second rear corner. The shipping tray may also have a first side support, a second side support, and a central brace that connects the first front corner, the second front corner, the first rear corner, and the second rear corner together. There may be a plurality of holders disposed at the first front corner, the second front corner, the first rear corner, and the second rear corner as well. The bottom side of the front support, rear support, first side support, second side support, and central brace may be hollow and there may be a plurality of structural ribs disposed within.
Some embodiments include a shipping tray system that comprises a shipping tray for a chair, having a plurality of legs, and a first chair having a plurality of legs. The shipping tray may include a top side, bottom side, front support, rear support, first side support, second side support, a central brace, and a plurality of holders. The plurality of legs of the first chair may be received in the plurality of holders of the shipping tray. In some embodiments, the first chair may comprise a plurality of chairs stacked on top of the first chair, where the plurality of chairs includes at least one chair stacked on top of another chair.
Another embodiment includes a method of stacking a chair having a plurality of legs on a shipping tray, providing a first chair having a plurality of legs, and a shipping tray for the chair having the plurality of legs. The shipping tray may include a top side, bottom side, front support, rear support, first side support, second side support, a central brace, and a plurality of holders. The method may include the step of disposing the first chair on the shipping tray so that the plurality of holders of the shipping tray receive the plurality of legs of the first chair. In some embodiments, the first chair may comprise a plurality of chairs stacked on top of the first chair, where the plurality of chairs includes stacking at least one of a second chair on top of the first chair.
In some examples, the shipping tray includes a body including a front support, a rear support, two side supports, and four corners, a plurality of recesses where a recess is located at each one of the four corners of the body, and an x-patterned brace including a first leg for connecting a first rear corner and a first front corner of the body and a second leg connecting a second rear corner and a second front corner of the body, the first leg and the second leg disposed at a transverse angle.
In further examples, the shipping tray comprises a body including a front support, a rear support, two side supports, and four corners. Each corner includes a recess configured to accept a leg of a chair. The shipping tray also includes an X-patterned brace including a first leg for connecting a first rear corner and a first front corner of the body and a second leg connecting a second rear corner and a second front corner of the body.
In another example, the front support is 27 inches in length and the rear support is 23 inches in length. However, the front support and the rear support can comprise any appropriately desired length. For example, in some embodiments the rear support is 27 inches in length and the front support is 27 inches in length. The shipping tray comprises two side supports that can include one or more oblong-shaped apertures. For example, such as shown within
In additional examples, the center of the shipping tray includes an X-pattern brace the connects and supports each recess. The first leg and the second leg of the X-pattern brace are disposed at a transverse angle. Particularly, as shown within
In some examples, the shipping tray is configured to transport one or more Adirondack chairs. Each corner of the shipping tray includes a recess configured to accept a leg of a chair. However, as will be apparent to someone of ordinary skill in the art, the shipping tray can be configured to transport any desired chair comprising four legs.
In some embodiments, the shipping tray further includes structural ribbing on an underside of the supports and the X-patterned brace. The structural ribbing can be located in those areas where it is desirable to add structural stability to the shipping tray. For example, in some embodiments the side supports comprise side support structural ribbing along a bottom length of the side supports and also cross ribbing across the side support structural ribbing. Similarly, the front support and the rear support can include cross wise structural ribbing. As shown in
In another example the leg of the chair is placed into each recess of the shipping tray such that the shipping tray can support the chair. As described above, the shipping tray can include four recesses, which are each configured to receive and secure a leg of the chair.
In an additional example, there may be a method of manufacturing a shipping tray in accordance with the present technology. In step, a body including a front support, a rear support and four corners is formed and in step, a x-patterned brace including a first leg for connecting a first rear corner and a first front corner of the body and a second leg connecting a second rear corner and a second front corner of the body is formed. The first leg and the second leg may be disposed at a transverse angle. The shipping tray can be manufactured using injection molding of a plastic material.
Further areas of applicability will become apparent from the description provided herein. The description and specific examples in this summary are intended for purposes of illustration only and are not intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure.
The drawings described herein are for illustrative purposes only of selected embodiments and not all possible implementations, and are not intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure.
The following description of technology is merely exemplary in nature of the subject matter, manufacture and use of one or more inventions, and is not intended to limit the scope, application, or uses of any specific invention claimed in this application or in such other applications as may be filed claiming priority to this application, or patents issuing therefrom. Regarding methods disclosed, the order of the steps presented is exemplary in nature, and thus, the order of the steps can be different in various embodiments, including where certain steps can be simultaneously performed, unless expressly stated otherwise. “A” and “an” as used herein indicate “at least one” of the item is present; a plurality of such items may be present, when possible. Except where otherwise expressly indicated, all numerical quantities in this description are to be understood as modified by the word “about” and all geometric and spatial descriptors are to be understood as modified by the word “substantially” in describing the broadest scope of the technology. “About” when applied to numerical values indicates that the calculation or the measurement allows some slight imprecision in the value (with some approach to exactness in the value; approximately or reasonably close to the value; nearly). If, for some reason, the imprecision provided by “about” and/or “substantially” is not otherwise understood in the art with this ordinary meaning, then “about” and/or “substantially” as used herein indicates at least variations that may arise from ordinary methods of measuring or using such parameters.
Although the open-ended term “comprising,” as a synonym of non-restrictive terms such as including, containing, or having, is used herein to describe and claim embodiments of the present technology, embodiments may alternatively be described using more limiting terms such as “consisting of” or “consisting essentially of” Thus, for any given embodiment reciting materials, components, or process steps, the present technology also specifically includes embodiments consisting of, or consisting essentially of, such materials, components, or process steps excluding additional materials, components or processes (for consisting of) and excluding additional materials, components or processes affecting the significant properties of the embodiment (for consisting essentially of), even though such additional materials, components or processes are not explicitly recited in this application. For example, recitation of a composition or process reciting elements A, B and C specifically envisions embodiments consisting of, and consisting essentially of, A, B and C, excluding an element D that may be recited in the art, even though element D is not explicitly described as being excluded herein.
As referred to herein, disclosures of ranges are, unless specified otherwise, inclusive of endpoints and include all distinct values and further divided ranges within the entire range. Thus, for example, a range of “from A to B” or “from about A to about B” is inclusive of A and of B. Disclosure of values and ranges of values for specific parameters (such as amounts, weight percentages, etc.) are not exclusive of other values and ranges of values useful herein. It is envisioned that two or more specific exemplified values for a given parameter may define endpoints for a range of values that may be claimed for the parameter. For example, if Parameter X is exemplified herein to have value A and also exemplified to have value Z, it is envisioned that Parameter X may have a range of values from about A to about Z. Similarly, it is envisioned that disclosure of two or more ranges of values for a parameter (whether such ranges are nested, overlapping or distinct) subsume all possible combination of ranges for the value that might be claimed using endpoints of the disclosed ranges. For example, if Parameter X is exemplified herein to have values in the range of 1-10, or 2-9, or 3-8, it is also envisioned that Parameter X may have other ranges of values including 1-9,1-8,1-3,1-2,2-10,2-8,2-3,3-10,3-9, and so on.
When an element or layer is referred to as being “on,” “engaged to,” “connected to,” or “coupled to” another element or layer, it may be directly on, engaged, connected or coupled to the other element or layer, or intervening elements or layers may be present. In contrast, when an element is referred to as being “directly on,” “directly engaged to,” “directly connected to” or “directly coupled to” another element or layer, there may be no intervening elements or layers present. Other words used to describe the relationship between elements should be interpreted in a like fashion (e.g., “between” versus “directly between,” “adjacent” versus “directly adjacent,” etc.). As used herein, the term “and/or” includes any and all combinations of one or more of the associated listed items.
Although the terms first, second, third, etc. may be used herein to describe various elements, components, regions, layers and/or sections, these elements, components, regions, layers and/or sections should not be limited by these terms. These terms may be only used to distinguish one element, component, region, layer or section from another region, layer or section. Terms such as “first,” “second,” and other numerical terms when used herein do not imply a sequence or order unless clearly indicated by the context. Thus, a first element, component, region, layer or section discussed below could be termed a second element, component, region, layer or section without departing from the teachings of the example embodiments.
Spatially relative terms, such as “inner,” “outer,” “beneath,” “below,” “lower,” “above,” “upper,” and the like, may be used herein for ease of description to describe one element or feature's relationship to another element(s) or feature(s) as illustrated in the figures. Spatially relative terms may be intended to encompass different orientations of the device in use or operation in addition to the orientation depicted in the figures. For example, if the device in the figures is turned over, elements described as “below” or “beneath” other elements or features would then be oriented “above” the other elements or features. Thus, the example term “below” can encompass both an orientation of above and below. The device may be otherwise oriented (rotated 90 degrees or at other orientations) and the spatially relative descriptors used herein interpreted accordingly.
The present technology improves on shipping trays for chairs and related systems and methods for stacking chairs for on shipping trays for transport and storage.
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The plurality of structural ribs 122 is purposefully arranged to effect necessary structural support, so the collective weight of a plurality of stacked chairs 103 does not cause the shipping tray 100 to bend or crack. In the embodiments described here, as shown in
Example embodiments are provided so that this disclosure will be thorough, and will fully convey the scope to those who are skilled in the art. Numerous specific details are set forth such as examples of specific components, devices, and methods, to provide a thorough understanding of embodiments of the present disclosure. It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that specific details need not be employed, that example embodiments may be embodied in many different forms, and that neither should be construed to limit the scope of the disclosure. In some example embodiments, well-known processes, well-known device structures, and well-known technologies are not described in detail. Equivalent changes, modifications and variations of some embodiments, materials, compositions and methods can be made within the scope of the present technology, with substantially similar results.
Claims
1. A shipping tray for a chair having a plurality of legs, comprising:
- a top side;
- a bottom side;
- a front support having a first front corner and a second front corner;
- a rear support having a first rear corner and a second rear corner;
- a first side support;
- a second side support;
- a central brace connecting each of the first front corner, the second front corner, the first rear corner, and the second rear corner; and
- a plurality of holders configured to receive the plurality of legs of the chair, wherein one holder of the plurality of holders is disposed at each of the first front corner, the second front corner, the first rear corner, and the second rear corner;
- wherein each of the front support, the rear support, the first side support, the second side support, and the central brace is hollow and has a plurality of structural ribs disposed on the bottom side.
2. The shipping tray of claim 1, wherein the plurality of structural ribs of the front support includes:
- a first front rib disposed adjacent the first front corner;
- a second front rib disposed adjacent the second front corner; and
- a third front rib disposed between the first front rib and the second front rib;
- wherein the first front rib, the second front rib, and the third front rib each orthogonally traverse a front length of the front support.
3. The shipping tray of claim 2, wherein the plurality of structural ribs of the rear support includes a first rear rib, a second rear rib, and a third rear rib each orthogonally traversing a rear length of the rear support, the first rear rib disposed adjacent the first rear corner, the second rear rib disposed adjacent the second rear corner, and the third rear rib disposed between the first rear rib and the second rear rib.
4. The shipping tray of claim 3, wherein the plurality of structural ribs of the first side support and second side support each includes a first side rib, a second side rib, a third side rib, each orthogonally traversing a side support length of each the first side support and the second side support, the first rear rib disposed adjacent each the first front corner and second front corner, the second side rib disposed adjacent each the first rear corner and second rear corner, and the third rear rib disposed between the first side rib and the second side rib.
5. The shipping tray of claim 4, wherein the first side support and the second side support each have a fourth side rib oriented parallel with the first side support and the second side support, the fourth side rib being disposed along a side support length between the first front corner and first rear corner, and between the second front corner and the second rear corner.
6. The shipping tray of claim 5, wherein the central brace has a first front arm connecting the first front corner to a center portion, a second front arm connecting the second front corner to the center portion, a first rear arm connecting the first rear corner to the center portion, and a second rear arm connecting the second rear corner to the center portion.
7. The shipping tray of claim 6, wherein a length of each of the first front arm and the second front arm is greater than a length of each of the first rear arm and the second rear arm.
8. The shipping tray of claim 7, wherein the plurality of structural ribs of the central brace includes:
- a first center rib disposed between a junction formed by the first front arm and second front arm and a junction formed by the first rear arm and the second rear arm; and
- a second center rib disposed between a junction formed by the first front arm and the first rear arm and a junction formed by the second front arm and the second rear arm.
9. The shipping tray of claim 8, wherein the plurality of structural ribs of the central brace includes a first brace rib, a second brace rib, a third brace rib, and a fourth brace rib, each traversing one of the first front arm, the second front arm, the first rear arm, and the second rear arm, the first brace rib disposed between the first front corner and the center portion, the second brace rib disposed between the second front corner and the center portion, the third brace rib disposed between the first rear corner and the center portion, and the fourth brace rib disposed between the second rear corner and the center portion.
10. The shipping tray of claim 9, wherein the plurality of structural ribs includes a plurality of first corner ribs disposed between the first front corner and a first front holder, a plurality of second corner ribs disposed between the second front corner and a second front holder, a plurality of third corner ribs disposed between the first rear corner and a first rear holder, and a plurality of fourth corner ribs disposed between the second rear corner and a second rear holder.
11. The shipping tray of claim 1, wherein a length of the front support is greater than a length of the rear support.
12. The shipping tray of claim 11, wherein a width of the first side support and a width of the second side support are each greater than a width of the front support and a width of the rear support.
13. The shipping tray of claim 12, wherein a plurality of apertures is formed in each of the first side support and the second side support, and each aperture of the plurality of apertures is substantially stadium shaped.
14. The shipping tray of claim 1, wherein each of the first front corner, the second front corner, the first rear corner, and the second rear corner has a corner border that circumscribes the one of the plurality of holders disposed at each of the first front corner, the second front corner, the first rear corner, and the second rear corner.
15. The shipping tray of claim 14, wherein the corner border as a corner border side surface and a pair of angled side surfaces, and the one of the front support, the rear support, the first side support, and the second side support has a support side surface, and each of the pair of angled side surfaces of the corner border connects the corner border side surface and the support side surface.
16. The shipping tray of claim 15, wherein each of the holders includes a base having a drainage hole disposed in the base, and a plurality of walls, the plurality of walls and the base together defining a recess configured to receive one leg of the plurality of legs of the chair, the recess decreasing in size towards the base.
17. A shipping tray system, comprising:
- a shipping tray for a chair having a plurality of legs, including: a top side; a bottom side; a front support having a first front corner and a second front corner; a rear support having a first rear corner and a second rear corner; a first side support; a second side support; a central brace having a center portion and connecting each of the first front corner, the second front corner, the first rear corner, and the second rear corner; and a plurality of holders configured to receive the plurality of legs of the chair, wherein one holder of the plurality of holders is disposed at each of the first front corner, the second front corner, the first rear corner, and the second rear corner; wherein each of the front support, the rear support, the first side support, the second side support, and the central brace is hollow and has a plurality of structural ribs disposed on the bottom side; and
- a first chair having a plurality of legs, the plurality of legs received in the plurality of holders of the shipping tray.
18. The shipping tray system of claim 17, wherein the first chair comprises a plurality of chairs stacked on top of the first chair, the plurality of chairs including at least one of the chair stacked on top of another of the chair.
19. A method of stacking a chair having a plurality of legs on a shipping tray, providing:
- a first chair having a plurality of legs,
- a shipping tray for the chair having the plurality of legs, including: a top side; a bottom side; a front support having a first front corner and a second front corner; a rear support having a first rear corner and a second rear corner; a first side support; a second side support; a central brace having a center portion and connecting each of the first front corner, the second front corner, the first rear corner, and the second rear corner; and a plurality of holders configured to receive the plurality of legs of the chair, wherein one holder of the plurality of holders is disposed at each of the first front corner, the second front corner, the first rear corner, and the second rear corner; wherein each of the front support, the rear support, the first side support, the second side support, and the central brace is hollow and has a plurality of structural ribs disposed on the bottom side; and disposing the first chair having the plurality of legs on the shipping tray so that the plurality of holders of the shipping tray receives the plurality of legs of the first chair.
20. The method of claim 19, wherein the first chair is comprised by a plurality of chairs stacked on top of one another.
Type: Application
Filed: Feb 17, 2023
Publication Date: Aug 24, 2023
Inventor: Nickolas Reinhart (Sarasota, FL)
Application Number: 18/170,758